DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 02/02/2026 have been fully considered but they are persuasive. A new ground of rejection was made in view of Dunna et al (US 2024/0187986 A1). The current rejection is a Non-Final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-8, 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deyle et al (US 2016/0094933 A1), hereinafter, “Deyle” in view Dunna et al (US 2024/0187986 A1), hereinafter, “Dunna” (The priority has been used from the Provisional application: 63/170,032, which includes Specification (8 pages) and Appendix to Spec APPENDIX 14 pages and APPENDIX 15 pages).
Regarding claim 1, Deyle discloses: A zero-power-consumption (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, “Backscatter communication system 100 uses backscatter communications to provide a short range (e.g., up to 20 m), high bandwidth (e.g., 20 to 100 Mbps), and low power (e.g., less than 1 mW) (equivalent to “zero-power”)”) communication method based on cellular communication (Deyle: fig 3A, para [0034], where, receive cellular data, e.g. 3G, 4G, LTE, fig. 6, par [0059], where, module 600 describes the method of a cellular communication), comprising:
receiving a power supply signal, by a zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”)),
wherein the power supply signal is configured to supply power to the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, 2, 3A-3B, para [0018]-[0020], where, “Base station 103 includes one or more antennas that broadcast electromagnetic (“EM”) energy 104 towards mobile devices 101 and receive modulated backscatter reflections 105 of EM energy 104. Modulated backscatter reflections 105 are referred to as the backscatter signal or backscatter channel”); Deyle does not explicitly teach: receiving a trigger signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, wherein the trigger signal is sent from a network device; sending a signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, through a back scattering way according to the power supply signal and the trigger signal.
receiving a trigger signal, by the zero-power-consumption device (Dunna: fig 1A, para [0042], where, “A synchronization receiver 104 (stage-2) is triggered by the wake-up receiver 102 to improve the synchronization accuracy to below 150 ns. The wake-up stage's 102 goal is to monitor the RF spectrum for a pre-specified set of packets that indicate the next packet is the one to be backscatter modulated”),
wherein the trigger signal is sent from a network device (Dunna: fig 1A-1C, para [0049], where, “The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver”, where, the network device 130 sends the trigger signal to the Sync receiver);
sending a signal, by the zero-power-consumption device (Dunna: fig 1D, para [0045], where, the Wake-up-Receiver comprises a passive ED 138, that consumes zero power), through a back scattering way according to the power supply signal and the trigger signal (Dunna: fig 1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use “receiving a trigger signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, wherein the trigger signal is sent from a network device; sending a signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, through a back scattering way according to the power supply signal and the trigger signal” as taught by Dunna into Deyle in order to add RF gain is the most efficient or the only way to improve the sensitivity (Dunna: para [0051]).
Regarding claim 14, the claim includes features identical to the subject matter mentioned in the rejection to claim 1 above. The claims are mere reformulation of claim 1 in order to define the corresponding cellular and sidelink communication device, and the rejection to claim 1 is applied hereto. Additionally, the claim includes a memory and a processor. However, Deyle discloses the memory and the processor (Deyle: para [0030]).
Regarding claims 2 and 15, Deyle modified by Dunna disclose: wherein the receiving the power supply signal by the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”)) comprises: receiving the power supply signal, by the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, 2, 3A-3B, para [0018]-[0020], where, “Base station 103 includes one or more antennas that broadcast electromagnetic (“EM”) energy 104 towards mobile devices 101 and receive modulated backscatter reflections 105 of EM energy 104. Modulated backscatter reflections 105 are referred to as the backscatter signal or backscatter channel”); wherein the power supply signal is sent from the network device (Deyle: fig 1, 2, 3A-3B, para [0018]-[0020], where, “Base station 103 includes one or more antennas that broadcast electromagnetic (“EM”) energy 104 towards mobile devices 101 and receive modulated backscatter reflections 105 of EM energy 104. Modulated backscatter reflections 105 are referred to as the backscatter signal or backscatter channel”); and the sending the signal, by the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, 2, 3A-3B, para [0018]-[0020], where, “Base station 103 includes one or more antennas that broadcast electromagnetic (“EM”) energy 104 towards mobile devices 101 and receive modulated backscatter reflections 105 of EM energy 104. Modulated backscatter reflections 105 are referred to as the backscatter signal or backscatter channel”); through the back scattering way according to the power supply signal and the trigger signal comprises: sending a back scattering signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, to the network device according to the power supply signal and the trigger signal (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”).
Regarding claims 3 and 16, Deyle modified by Dunna disclose: wherein a time delay between sending the power supply signal by the network device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0021], where, “fully passive RFID tags often pause for periodic power harvesting, which interrupts or delays data transmission. Energy harvesting reduces the read range for base station 103 because more incident EM radiation 104 is required to power up a backscatter tag than is required for the backscatter communications alone”) and sending the trigger signal by the network device is a preset value or a configurable value (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”);
a time delay between receiving the trigger signal by the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0021], where, “fully passive RFID tags often pause for periodic power harvesting, which interrupts or delays data transmission. Energy harvesting reduces the read range for base station 103 because more incident EM radiation 104 is required to power up a backscatter tag than is required for the backscatter communications alone”);
and sending the back scattering signal by the zero-power-consumption device is a preset value; or configured by the network device and informed to the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”)).
Regarding claims 4-5 and 17-18, Deyle modified by Dunna disclose: the receiving the power supply signal by the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”)), comprises: receiving the power supply signal, by the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”), fig 3A, power supply 325, para [0033]), wherein the power supply signal is sent from the network device (Deyle: fig 3A-B, para [0033] and [0034], where, “power supply units, which extract the power from a receive signal, and are not connected to any power supply network or energy buffer”, and the power supply can be connected to a power supply network);
the sending the signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, through the back scattering way (Deyle: fig 1 and 3A-B, para (0018]-[0019] and [0033]-[0034], where, “low power (e.g., less than 1 mW) wireless communication link to deliver data from one or more mobile devices 101 to base station 103. One example of backscatter communication is commonly known as Radio-Frequency Identification (“RFID”)”) according to the power supply signal and the trigger signal (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”); comprises: sending a signal, by the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”), to a terminal device through the back scattering way (Deyle: fig 3A-B, para [0033]-[0034], where, sending zero-power signal through backscattering) according to the power supply signal and the trigger signal (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”).
Regarding claims 6-7 and 19-20, Deyle modified by Dunna disclose: wherein a time delay (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018]) between sending the power supply signal by the network device (Deyle: fig 3A-B, para [0033]-[0034]) and sending the trigger signal by the network device is a preset value or a configurable value (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”); a time delay between receiving the trigger signal by the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”) and sending the sleeping signal or the wake-up signal by the zero-power-consumption device is a preset value; or configured by the network device and informed to the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”).
Regarding claim 8, Deyle modified by Dunna disclose: The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein a time delay between receiving the trigger signal by the zero-power-consumption device (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”) and sending the back scattering signal (Deyle: fig 3A-B, para [0033]-[0034], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”)) by the zero-power-consumption device is a preset value; or configured by the network device and informed to the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”)).
Claims 9-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Deyle et al (US 2016/0094933 A1), hereinafter, “Deyle” in view Dunna et al (US 2024/0187986 A1), hereinafter, “Dunna” (The priority has been used from the Provisional application: 63/170,032, which includes Specification (8 pages) and Appendix to Spec APPENDIX 14 pages and APPENDIX 15 pages) further in view of Lopez et al (US 20200412591 A1), hereinafter, “Lopez”.
Regarding claim 9, Deyle discloses: A zero-power-consumption communication method (Deyle: fig 1, 2, 3A-3B and fig 6, Method of Backscatter communication, para [0018]-[0020], where, “Base station 103 includes one or more antennas that broadcast electromagnetic (“EM”) energy 104 towards mobile devices 101 and receive modulated backscatter reflections 105 of EM energy 104. Modulated backscatter reflections 105 are referred to as the backscatter signal or backscatter channel”)comprising: receiving a power supply signal by a zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 1, 2, 3A-3B, para [0018]-[0020], where, “Base station 103 includes one or more antennas that broadcast electromagnetic (“EM”) energy 104 towards mobile devices 101 and receive modulated backscatter reflections 105 of EM energy 104. Modulated backscatter reflections 105 are referred to as the backscatter signal or backscatter channel”); wherein the power supply signal is configured to supply power to the zero-power-consumption device (Deyle: fig 3A-B, para [0033]-[0034], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”))
Deyle does not explicitly teach: receiving a trigger signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, receiving a trigger signal, by the zero-power-consumption device.
receiving a trigger signal, by the zero-power-consumption device (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”);
receiving a trigger signal, by the zero-power-consumption device (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”);
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use “receiving a trigger signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, receiving a trigger signal, by the zero-power-consumption device” as taught by Dunna into Deyle in order to add RF gain is the most efficient or the only way to improve the sensitivity (Dunna: para [0051]);
neither Deyle nor Dunna explicitly teach: wherein the trigger signal is sent from a second sidelink communication device; sending a back scattering signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, based on sidelink communication, sent from a first sidelink communication device, to the first sidelink communication device. or the second sidelink communication device according to the power supply signal and the trigger signal.
Lopez teaches: wherein the trigger signal is sent from a second sidelink communication device (Lopez: para [0059], where, “the active radio device and/or the passive radio device may be configured for peer-to-peer communication (e.g., on a sidelink) and/or for accessing the RAN (e.g. on an uplink and/or a downlink)”); sending a back scattering signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, based on sidelink communication, sent from a first sidelink communication device, to the first sidelink communication device (Lopez: para [0059] and [0053], where, “initiate a step demodulating the backscattered radio signal. The demodulation may include a correlation of the backscattered radio signal with at least two power spectral densities”).
or the second sidelink communication device according to the power supply signal and the trigger signal.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skilled in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use “sending a back scattering signal, by the zero-power-consumption device, based on sidelink communication, sent from a first sidelink communication device, to the first sidelink communication device” as taught by Lopez into Deyle in order to increase bandwidth utilization efficiency and/or increase transmission reliability (Lopez: para [0007]).
Regarding claim 10, Deyle modified by Dunna modified by Lopez disclose: wherein the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device are a same sidelink communication device (Lopez: para [0059], where, “the active radio device and/or the passive radio device may be configured for peer-to-peer communication (e.g., on a sidelink) and/or for accessing the RAN (e.g. on an uplink and/or a downlink)”); the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device are terminal devices (Lopez: para [0059], where, “the active radio device and/or the passive radio device may be configured for peer-to-peer communication (e.g., on a sidelink) and/or for accessing the RAN (e.g. on an uplink and/or a downlink)”, where, UE, e.g., a 3GPP UE equivalent to “first sidelink device” and “STA e.g., wifi STA” equivalent to “second sidelink communication device”); or the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device are gateway devices.
Regarding claim 11, Deyle modified by Dunna modified by Lopez disclose: wherein a time delay between sending the power supply signal by the terminal device and sending the trigger signal by the terminal device is a preset value or a configurable value (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”); a time delay between receiving the trigger signal by the zero-power-consumption device and sending a back scattering signal (Deyle: fig 2A, para [0053], where, “initiate a step demodulating the backscattered radio signal. The demodulation may include a correlation of the backscattered radio signal with at least two power spectral densities”) by the zero-power-consumption device is a preset value (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”)).
or configured by the terminal device and informed to the zero-power-consumption device; a time delay between sending the power supply signal by the gateway device and sending the trigger signal by the gateway device is a preset value or a configurable value; a time delay between receiving the trigger signal by the zero-power-consumption device and sending a back scattering signal by the zero- power-consumption device is a preset value; or configured by the gateway device and informed to the zero-power-consumption device.
Regarding claim 12, Deyle modified by Dunna modified by Lopez disclose: wherein the first sidelink communication device and the second sidelink communication device are different sidelink communication devices (Lopez: para [0059], where, “the active radio device and/or the passive radio device may be configured for peer-to-peer communication (e.g., on a sidelink) and/or for accessing the RAN (e.g. on an uplink and/or a downlink)”); the first sidelink communication device is any one of a terminal device, a gateway device, and a dedicated power supply device (Deyle: fig 3A-B, para [0033]-[0034], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”)) the second sidelink communication device is any one of a terminal device, a gateway device, and a dedicated power supply device (Deyle: fig 3A-B, power source 325, para [0034], where, Power Supply 325 equivalent to “a dedicated power supply device”).
Regarding claim 13, Deyle modified by Dunna disclose: The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein a time delay (Deyle: fig 1, para [0021], where, “fully passive RFID tags often pause for periodic power harvesting, which interrupts or delays data transmission. Energy harvesting reduces the read range for base station 103 because more incident EM radiation 104 is required to power up a backscatter tag than is required for the backscatter communications alone”) between receiving the trigger signal (Dunna: fig 1A-1D, para [0049], where, “The tag synchronizes to the receiving packet with 150 ns accuracy, assuming incoming power is higher than −40 dBm. The tag starts backscattering at 50 MHz without any data, as soon as it receives a trigger from the sync receiver. Back-scattering with no-data ensures the incoming packet is reflected on channel 11, assuming transmission was on channel 1”) by the zero-power-consumption device and sending the back scattering signal by the zero-power-consumption device is a preset value (Deyle: fig 1, para [0018], where, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) (equivalent to “low-power or zero-power consumption device”)).
or [[configured by the first sidelink communication device and informed to the zero-power-consumption device; or configured by the second sidelink communication device and informed to the zero-power-consumption]].
Conclusion
THIS ACTION is NON_FINAL. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NIZAM U AHMED whose telephone number is (571)272-9561. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fry, 7:00 AM-6:00 PM PST.
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/NIZAM U AHMED/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2461
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